Plans A, B and C
Illustrating a Truth of Mending the Broken Heart
It is hard to go forward carrying the past with us, especially the pain of broken dreams about the way things might have been. God gives us dreams about our future which act like a kind of "starter kit" sending us eagerly out on the highway of life. Sometimes, however, tragedy strikes. When our life path is interrupted by some devilish disaster, it can not only destroy our dreams, it can also damage our confidence in God and the good plans He has for us. 
We must remember: God is never the author of our disasters.[i] He is the author of our dreams. Nevertheless, because those dreams once gave us hope and vision for our future, we can't imagine how our life can work now that they are broken beyond our ability to repair them. Some dreams can even be broken beyond God's ability to repair them: consider the death of a loved one, the death of a marriage, or the death of a business venture.
Dear Christian, take heart! The Father is never at a loss for new dreams to give us--dreams of a restored life and a fresh start. Certain kinds of death are final, but Jesus is ever resourceful at finding ingenious ways to resurrect life in unexpected new forms. Our own hope may have died, and our spiritual sight be blinded by past losses, but the Holy Spirit is always able to raise us to new life and hope if we let Him. The way of grace and faith cannot be stopped by anyone but our self.
Our life could go like this: Plan A began as a gift from God with dreams pointing us in the right direction to travel. Plan B came from the enemy who "busted" those Plan A dreams through our own sins or those of others, and now we feel there is no going back. Plan C unfolds as we surrender everything to Christ our God, fully forgiving and releasing the past, and stand ready to receive new dreams. In this yielded state, we can open once again (as we previously did in childhood) to ideas and desires which our Lord will awaken. Then, with new, God-given vision for a fully restored life, we can walk into that bright future following Jesus step-by-step.
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11 ESV
And he said, "Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream." Numbers 12:6 ESV
"For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end--it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay." Habakkuk 2:3 ESV
Prayer
Father, thank You for the dreams You gave me. How they nourished my heart and pointed my life in right directions as I began my journey! Thank You for not holding the breaking of those dreams against me and I choose to not hold it against myself or anyone else. I choose to freely give those precious dreams back to You now in hopes of receiving new ones. I am ready to go forward with You into the future You have in mind! I believe You have new dreams, even greater dreams to bestow, so I open wide to the possibilities of a fully redeemed life with You. Help me to trust and follow Jesus step-by-step.
Endnotes
[i] James 1:17: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
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Bring the Hammer Down
Illustrating God's power to bring overwhelming good out of any past event.
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